Even if there's not a flake in the forecast, Middle Tennesseans can race down snowy slopes this winter in a new snow tubing attraction at Gaylord Opryland's A Country Christmas.

"This is real snow like you would find on the ski slopes," spokesman Jenny Barker said Friday as the resort announced additions to this year's event.

The resort also began the months-long process of stringing 2 million lights throughout the property. Chattanooga horticulturist Chris Flakes said each of the 26 magnolia trees will take roughly a week to string, while the cypress trees and bushes vary by size.

Old favorites returning for this year's Christmas show include the Rockettes, a Delta Riverboat ride, outdoor Nativities, cruises on the General Jackson showboat and ICE!

Parents can have their children's photos made with Santa Claus with a guitar backdrop, General Manager Pete Weien said. And at Gingy's Gingerbread Decorating, kids can meet their favorite Dreamworks characters, from Shrek to Kung Fu Panda.

A Parade of Trees is the final addition to this year's lineup. The parade is a self-guided tour filled with Christmas trees decorated by country music legends.

"Each tree's decorations and presents are up for grabs to the highest bidder, all to benefit favorite charities," Weien said. "Charlie Daniels, Sara Evans, Brenda Lee and others will have trees featured."

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Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville is lit for the holidays after the annual Christmas lighting ceremony in 2010. It also helped launch the hotel's grand re-opening after a devastating flood in May.
Jeanne Reasonover / The Tennessean

William C. Weaver Jr., left, shows a model of the proposed 615-room, $25 million Opryland Hotel complex to Metro Mayor Richard Fulton, E.W. (Bud) Wendell, general manager of Opryland and the Grand Ole Opry, and Irving Waugh, president of WSM, Inc., in 1976.
The Tennessean

Bright skies and sun have helped workers on the Opryland Hotel get ahead of schedule in spite of an unusually cold winter. The $25 million structure is expected to be complete by mid-August 1977.
Gerald Holly / The Tennessean

Some of those to be responsible for the commercial shops and businesses in the new Opryland Hotel gather at the hotel in October 1977 to get acquainted and discuss common interests. From left, are A.J. Levy, Elizabeth Linneman, Carson Castleman, Tom Zobel, Tom Brownell, Mary Pugh and Janice Garcia.
Nancy Warnecke / The Tennessean

Workers are putting the finishing touches on the grand foyer of the new Opryland Hotel, which is scheduled to open in November 1977. The hotel will offer 615 guest rooms and 54 suites with prices ranging from $24 to $250 a night.
Bill Welch / The Tennessean

A top-hatter Rex Holmes adds to the Opryland Hotel's distinctive atmosphere as he unloads baggage for guests registering during the hotel's official opening on Nov. 26, 1977.
Bill Welch / The Tennessean

Mr. and Mrs. Russell Wagner, left, and Mr. and Mrs. Albert Werthan and Walter Robinson chat during a party on Dec. 19, 1977 to celebrate the opening of the new Opryland Hotel. Wagner is CEO and chairman of the board of National Life and Accident Insurance Co. and Robinson is president of NLT Corp. The hotel officials hosted 3,500 invited guests to the new convention facility.
Bill Welch / The Tennessean

Siegfried Eisenberger, executive chef at the Opryland Hotel, with his award-winning chocolate sculpture of an Indian on horseback, chasing a buffalo. The endeavor required 136 hours to finish.
Robert Johnson / The Tennessean

Conventioneers and tourists at Opryland theme park, by far the biggest tourist attraction in Nashville, inspect ceramic displays at an exhibition in the Opryland Hotel in 1981.
Dianne Milam / The Tennessean

This is a bird's-eye view of part of the sprawling Opryland complex July 1, 1983, on Briley Parkway, with the 1,068-room Opryland Hotel in the foreground and the Grand Ole Opry House and Opryland USA theme park in the background.
Nancy Rhoda / The Tennessean

Mike Dimond, standing center, Opryland Hotel's vice president for marketing, supervises a banquet. Captains David Vaughn, left, and Levon Fisher serve construction workers of Hardaway Construction Co. in a preview of a banquet celebrating completion of the hotel's new meeting and convention facilities. The banquet for 1,000 construction workers will be served the next night in the new facility.
Robert Johnson / The Tennessean

Joan Lewis of Goodlettsville received a $1,000 prize from Opryland Hotel officials for naming "The Crystal Gazebo." More than 13,000 entries were received in the contest to name the six-story structure of steel, which stands in the hotel's new conservatory.
P. Casey Daley / The Tennessean

The delicious array of goodies facing Beck Horton, left, of Memphis, is almost more than one can contemplate so she seeks the advice of Siegfried Eisenberger, executive chef at Opryland Hotel before making her decision. The spread is part of the hotel's "Afternoon Delight" tea party.
P. Casey Daley / The Tennessean

Minnie Pearl, left, and Roy Acuff, center, are thrilled with the food presented by waiter Lafayette Moore at the Opryland Hotel in 1984. They are getting the first look at the food for the Gaylord Olympic Gala planned at the Opryland Hotel.
Bill Welch / The Tennessean

Opryland Hotel executive chef Siegfried Eisenberger, left, shows some of the inner workings of the hotel industry to Barbara Rathbun, conference coordinator for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and Joan Dixon, associate conference planner for United Way of America, in 1985. The two are among seven national association planners attending a seminar at the hotel. At right, is food service employee Marianne Clark.
Bill Welch / The Tennessean

Larry Banks, left, a laborer, and Don Owens, a carpenter with Hardaway Construction Co., work on the roof in 1987 on part of the $55 million expansion at the Opryland Hotel.
Donnie Beauchamp / Opryland

A helicopter airlifts a crate containing 10 of the 2,700 20-foot-square panes of glass that 25 workers are installing on the $1.5 million, one-acre skylight over the Cascades portion of the expansion at the Opryland Hotel in 1987. The Cascades, scheduled for completion in May 1988, will include waterfalls, ponds and fountains surrounded by 829 new guest rooms plus a revolving lounge and restaurant.
Ricky Rogers / The Tennessean

There was long wait in the brunch buffet line at the Opryland Hotel's 10th anniversary celebration in 1987, which saw nearly 5,000 people take advantage of the all-you-could eat $5.95 meal. After an hour-and-a-half wait in line, Anna Easterling, 8, center, peers over the brunch choices as Ed Bean, right, makes sure he hasn't missed anything.
P. Casey Daley / The Tennessean

Laurie Schappert, right, reservation manager at the Opryland Hotel, interviews Shirley Jones, an applicant for a job as a reservations agent as the hotel prepares to open 824 new rooms.
Bob Roller / The Tennessean

Opryland Hotel guest Don Riggs of Ambler, Pa., does a 20-minute workout on a treadmill at the hotel's new fitness center in 1989. The center, open to hotel guest only, also includes stationary bicycles and weight training equipment.
Jessica Greene / The Tennessean

Tracy Woodard, Opryland Hotel airport room agent, works at the hotel's remote front desk at Nashville International Airport in 1992. Customers only have to sign a registration card and pick up their room key when they get to the hotel.
Kats Barry / The Tennessean

Tennessee State University marching band and costumed Opryland Hotel employees lead a parade through the hotel's Chattanooga ballroom during a breakfast honoring more than 400 businesses that supply goods and services to the hotel in 1993.
Frank Empson / The Tennessean

Workers from Freeman Decorating pilot an already decorated Delta River boat inside the Opryland Hotel to a holding area. The decorated boats are part of the 1998 CBS All-American Thanksgiving Day Parade holiday special, which will feature the Opryland USA Aqua parade from inside the Opryland Hotel.
D. Patrick Harding / The Tenness

John Mclaughlin, left, and Bobby Hauger prepare a place to hang a Norman Rockwell oil painting that is estimated to be worth around $3 million in 2004. The painting will hang with 322 Saturday Evening Post covers, which are part of the "Rockwell's America: Celebrating the Art of Norman Rockwell" art show.
Shelley Mays / The Tennessean

Members of the Knights of Columbus line up to exit the Presidential Ballroom after attending Mass with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone at the 125th annual Knights of Columbus convention at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in 2007.
Larry McCormack / The Tennessean

Adam Stewart, a farmer from North Carolina, right, works on his song as does Marc Kennedy, of Alabama, left, before their auditions for this year's Nashville Star TV show at Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in 2008.
Sanford Myers / The Tennessean

Parmesh Sharma, left, of Franklin, Tenn., watches his wife, Sara, and his 2-year-old son, Ari, while they attend the free music concert by "Sam & Ruby" during Poolapalooza at Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in 2008.J
Jae S. Lee / The Tennessean

Laid-off Gaylord employees attend a "transition fair," where they learn about other jobs, get help from career centers and learn about benefits after flooding closes the hotel in 2010.
George Walker IV / The Tennessean

Stylist Rikki Wichman is all smiles as she gets her job back at the Opryland Hotel in August 2010. Workers returned to the Raddison Hotel to fill out papers to be re-hired by the Opryland after the May flood.
John Partipilo / The Tennessean

Workers continue tree removal and other structures within 20 feet of the floodwall around Opry Mills and Opryland Hotel in 2011. In the future, a 500-year floodwall will replace the one that is in place now.
Larry McCormack / The Tennessean

The Gray family of Mount Juliet watch the Christmas lights as they are turned on at Opryland Hotel in Nashville on Nov. 17, 2011. From left are Dakota, 5, dad Eric, Jasmine, 9 months, mom Shawna, and Marley, 3.
Jeanne Reasonover / The Tennessean